For excelling on the soccer field and basketball court, while also adding track and field to her repertoire this year, Smith earns the distinction as the top senior female multisport performer in the area. She was selected through an interactive process that included fan nominations and voting to select five finalists from schools in Northamption, Lehigh, Warren and Hunterdon counties.

Smith, an Express-Times All-Area first-team choice in soccer and basketball, made her mark at Bethlehem Catholic being a do-everything player who isn't afraid to compete with an edge.

Lehighvalleylive Girls Athlete of the Year: Bridget Smith of Bethlehem CatholicBethlehem Catholic High School's Bridget Smith is the first lehighvalleylive Girls Athlete of the Year. Smith was a top performer in basketball and soccer, and also added track and field to her resume this season. She is Becahi's all-time leading scorer in soccer and helped the Golden Hawks to the PIAA Class AAA state basketball final.

Over four seasons, the Bethlehem resident, who is 6-foot tall, dominated soccer games aerially for the Golden Hawks on her way to a school-record 71 goals.

"It shows how far the soccer program has come," Smith said of the record. "It wouldn't mean anything without the team. It's been a great four years and I made so many friends through soccer that I'm going to have for life."

Soccer coach Chris Bastidas, who took over the program last fall, quickly discovered Smith's influence beyond just her ability to dictate the flow of a game.

"She helped me out as a coach, she kept everyone else focused because her intensity level was so high," he said. "That was the first thing that jumped out to me."

"I just wanted to be a leader on the field (and) off the field," said Smith, who won the Lehigh Valley Soccer Scholar-Athlete award. "I wanted to have a good presence out there. We had a lot of young girls, so I wanted to make sure they knew what the program was about."

Prior to Smith and her classmates, Golden Hawks soccer was stuck in the doldrums. The team has much more stable footing now after capturing its first district tournament victory in the fall.

"When I arrived, there was a group of close to 10 freshman and we changed the program from having a few wins a year to making it to districts and finally winning that playoff game," she said.

Becahi's advancement in basketball was even greater. The Golden Hawks rolled to a 28-3 record and a runner-up finish in the PIAA Class AAA state final. Smith averaged 10.4 points and had a team-high 11.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game, diving for loose balls and pulling down contested rebounds along the way.

"She did all the dirty work for the team," basketball coach Bill Lanscek said. "We will not be able to replace her. We hope that some people can step up and do some of the things that she did. We understand that there's those athletes that come around once and a while, like Bridget, and maybe when you know she's not coming back is when you really realize how important she was."

Smith's toughness was no more evident than when she cracked heads with an opponent from Villa Maria Academy in the state semifinals. The opponent went to the floor, Smith walked over to a team huddle and, despite a significant bump on her forehead, continued playing.

"She played it off," Lanscek said. "She didn't fuss like some other girls would and go to pieces over that. Bridget would have nothing of it. She's tough and wasn't going to take a minute off of playing and that's what we expect from her."

"I never thought to come out, the way we were playing that game, I thought that I had to be out there the whole time," Smith said. "You have to do everything you can to get to the next game."

The Golden Hawks got to the next game and advanced as far as they did in large part due to Smith's leadership, according to Lanscek.

"It was doing whatever I felt was needed during a certain game," Smith said of her role for Becahi, which also boasted sensational Express-Times Co-Player of the Year Kalista Walters. "We had a lot of young players, not everyone was the same in the way that they played, so I think I needed to be a stabilizing factor."

The grit and hard-nosed style, which Smith displayed in her game, dissipates when she steps outside the lines.

"Not that she's dirty in any sense, but she'll get a hard rebound and she'll let it be known that she's there and she's not going to be pushed around," Lanscek said. "There's a real difference between the on-the-court Bridget and the off-the-court Bridget."

The off-the-court Smith wouldn't get pushed around either, but those situations don't arise when you have her friendly nature.

Smith, who will try to walk on to the University of Pennsylvania basketball team and may study biology or biochemistry as part of a pre-med track, credited her parents, Ed and Grace, for her positive qualities.

"I think my parents have been great role models for me," she said. "They've sacrificed so much to send me to Beca and allow me to play two sports -- and track this year. They're great examples of what I want to be when I grow up. They're just selfless people."

While Smith looks to her parents, Lanscek looks to her as a shining example.

"Anybody that looks at our program, she would be the face of Beca basketball," the coach said. "I have two grandchildren and if I could have one wish granted in life, I would wish that they'd both turn out like Bridget."

Both Bridgets, that is -- the one that would dive headlong into a crowd for a loose ball and the one that would make sure everyone was alright afterward.